5 Sleep Disorders You Probably Don’t Know Existed

August 14, 2015

You probably know someone who has insomnia, narcolepsy, or sleep apnea. Or maybe you have these illnesses. Either way, these sleep disorders are pretty common, and while they’re pretty disruptive to normal life, it’s easy to seek medical help for them since they’re well-known.

On the other hand, there are sleeping disorders that are so bizarre and rarely encountered that it’s hard to believe that they actually exist. These unbelievable but completely true sleep-related illnesses give those who have them trouble in either sleeping or waking up no matter how soft or lumpy or perfect the bed mattress may be.

Get to know these problems that cause the most aberrant of slumbers.

Kleine-Levin Syndrome

Ten hours of sleep is a lot; twelve is a little bit too much and usually happens only when you’re catching up on your sleep debt. But how about twenty hours? For those who have Kleine-Levin syndrome, that’s just a regular thing.

Aside from spending four-fifths of a day out cold, people who have from this obscure sleep disorder suffer from increased appetite and libido, disorientation, hallucinations, and flu-like symptoms. This condition is caused by a malfunction in the parts of the brain that affect sleep and appetite.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

If you kick, punch, run, or crawl in your dream, your real-life body doesn’t act them out because of some complicated neural system. If you have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, you can and will involuntarily.

For example, if you’re having a dream about being in a boxing match, then you’ll be punching the air. It can either be funny to others and embarrassing to you, or hurt the person you’re sleeping next to.

Exploding Head Syndrome

Don’t worry; it doesn’t really make your skull burst into a thousand bloody pieces. If you have exploding head syndrome, then you’d probably jokingly say that the former is a lot milder.

When sufferers experience an episode, they hear a loud noise right before they catch zzz’s, as if there was an explosion inside their head just happened, thus the name of the condition. The condition can even become so severe that those who have it think that they’re having a stroke.

Restless Leg Syndrome

From the head, let’s move down to the appendages, which don’t seem to stop moving during sleep for people who have restless leg syndrome. In addition to the irresistible urge to keep their legs in constant motion, some sufferers feel a burning, itching, or prickling sensation as well, making it difficult for them to get shuteye.

Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Syndrome

Sleeping and waking both happen within a span of 24 hours. But for people who have non-24 hour sleep-wake syndrome, the cycle can be completely different. For example, some sufferers have a 72-hour cycle. Within that span of time, they can be awake for 48 hours and asleep for 24. Those who usually have this are also blind – a strange correlation worth investigating.

After every sleeping disorder you just read about, the occasional bad sleep doesn’t sound as bad anymore, doesn’t it? So the next time you wake up or feel sleepy, be thankful because you got it good.